5 Secrets to Successful Collaborative Design Critiques

A few years back Experience Design Director Adam Connor (Mad*Pow) and Experience Design Consultant Aaron Irizarry (HP) joined forces to help companies refine their creative processes for design critique.

(Jared Spool said in a recent interview that the favorite feedback he’d ever received was from a client who didn’t like the color of the design because it reminded him of a sweater his ex-wife used to wear.)

We caught up with Adam and Aaron after their fantastic presentation at the UI17 conference to learn the key points they share for facilitating good critique within teams.

Watch and learn why creative critique is all about:

Iterations

Improving the product/service, not proving yourself

Solid goals

The current design, not the one you’re dreaming of

Treating everyone as equals

Be sure to watch the whole thing (only 5 minutes), because these guys deserve their own TV show. And if you’re interested in learning even more, check out the site they created, Discussing Design, or follow their twitter account, @DiscussingD.

Our thanks again to Adam and Aaron for standing out in the freezing cold to give us the interview!